B.J. Upton

Angels 4, White Sox 1: Did you know that if you win the AL Central that you contract a horrible disease? If you answered yes, you must be either the Tigers or the White Sox. That’s five straight losses for Chicago. Jered Weaver wins his 19th, allowing one run over six and a third. Kendrys…

Nationals 4, Dodgers 1: Congrats to the Nats for clinching the first postseason birth for a D.C. team since 1933. Pour one out for Joe Cronin, Moe Berg, Lefty Stewart and Heinie Manush. Reds 5, Cubs 3: And congratulations to the Reds too, who clinched their spot hours before the Nats did. The Reds are…

Rays 6, Rangers 0: That, my friends, is B.J. Upton. Three homers for big brother and a two-hit shutout for James Shields. This will make Rays fans feel really good until Texas bounces them easily in the division series again. Marlins 8, Nationals 0: The Nats have not won a game since they shut down Stephen…

It’s not too often a two-hit shutout gets overshadowed, but B.J. Upton did his best to secure the spotlight on Sunday, hitting three homers in the Rays’ 6-0 win over the Rangers. James Shields went the distance for the Rays, notching his second shutout of the season. He has eight in his career, six of…

Here’s the top 50 of a rather weak free agent class. Again, I didn’t include Robinson Cano, R.A. Dickey and some others whose options are sure to be picked up. Also absent is Mark Reynolds. He is not eligible for free agency, though there’s a good chance he’ll be non-tendered this winter. All ages are…

As it turned out, the Orioles didn’t need to wait until the weekend series against the Yankees for their chance to top the AL East standings. Baltimore smoked Toronto 12-0 and the Yankees lost to the Rays 5-2 on Tuesday, setting up a tie for first place in the AL East. The Rays closed to…

We’ve heard a lot recently about the Orioles’ success in one-run games and the Rays’ inability to win one. Well, their fortunes finally reversed today. We’ll start with the Orioles. They entered the bottom of the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead against the Yankees, but things unraveled from there. Wei-Yin Chen was ahead of…

The Red Sox have had an average payroll in excess of $170 million the last three years. With Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett departing and David Ortiz, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Cody Ross all set to become free agents, they’re currently looking at something less than half of that for 2013. It figures to give…

The deal isn’t yet official, but it looks like Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto are all Los Angeles bound in exchange for four minimum-salaried players and free-agent-to-be James Loney. That would cut $58.25 million in 2013 salaries from Boston’s payroll and leave the Red Sox committed to only four players for…

Evan Longoria had been limited to DH duties since returning from his hamstring tear two weeks ago, but he’s back at third base tonight for the first time since getting hurt on April 30. “I’m excited to say the least. A little bit nervous,” he told Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune. Longoria has started…

The Angels’ rotation hasn’t been the force we expected it would be this season, even after the Zack Greinke trade last month, but Jered Weaver has managed to be the exception. Until last night, that is. Weaver was tagged for a career-high nine runs over just three-plus innings as part of a 12-3 loss to…

There wasn’t even a near-miss in this one. Felix Hernandez dominated the Rays from top to bottom on Wednesday, striking out 12 in a perfect game to beat Tampa Bay 1-0. It was his first career no-hitter and the first perfect game in Mariners history. As for the Rays, this is becoming old hat for…

Here’s something pretty cool. Justin Upton launched a long home run to left field off Phillies’ right-hander Kyle Kendrick in the top of the second inning tonight for the 100th home run of his career. Less than an hour later, his big brother B.J. Upton connected for a solo shot to center field off Orioles’…

Tomorrow the rosters for the annual Futures Game will be revealed, but we already know who’ll be managing the collection of elite prospects as part of the All-Star festivities: George Brett and Bernie Williams. MLB announced that Brett will manage the United States team for the game being played in Kansas City, while Williams will…

As expected, MLB has denied the Mets’ appeal that R.A. Dickey‘s one-hitter Wednesday be changed to a no-hitter after the fact. They asked the league to consider changing B.J. Upton‘s first-inning infield hit, which proved to be the Rays’ only one off Dickey, into an error on third baseman David Wright. Dickey himself said the…

Lost in the Matt Cain perfect game drama last night was the fact that R.A. Dickey nearly threw a no-hitter of his own. The only blemish: a first inning infield single by B.J. Upton. It was a slow-rolling grounder that Wright tried to barehand and couldn’t. The Mets, however, are trying to get that single changed…

Chipper Jones was quite vocal earlier this week that he didn’t want to go on a minor league rehab assignment, but it appears that he’ll respect the wishes of his manager Fredi Gonzalez. According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jones will play rehab games with Class A Rome on Saturday and Sunday. Assuming…

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has his doubts, but Chipper Jones hopes to return from the disabled list as soon as he’s eligible Friday against the Blue Jays. According to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jones took batting practice today for the first time since undergoing surgery on May 26 to drain a hematoma on…

Chipper Jones‘ left calf injury hasn’t gotten any better over the past couple of days, so the Braves have decided to place him on the disabled list. The team has yet to make a corresponding roster move, but they are likely to call up a catcher after David Ross left last night’s game against the…

After Franklin Morales drilled Luke Scott in the top of the ninth — apparent retaliation for a plunking of Dustin Pedroia earlier — benches cleared in Friday’s game between the Rays and Red Sox at Fenway Park, which Tampa Bay went on to win 7-4. Some bad blood likely carried over from last week’s series…

Yankees 8, Royals 3: Alex Rodriguez would like the New York sporting press to write more career obituaries for him. It seems to suit him nicely (2 for 4, 2 HR, 3 RBI). Reds 2, Braves 1: Todd Frazier hit a walkoff homer. It came off Cristhian Martinez because, as everyone knows, Fredi Gonzalez would be drummed…

According to Chris Girandola of MLB.com, Chipper Jones is expected to miss the rest of the weekend series against the Rays after leaving last night’s game with a left calf contusion. Jones suffered the injury when he was smacked in the left leg with a line drive off the bat of B.J. Upton while playing…

The Rays placed outfielder Desmond Jennings on the 15-day disabled list before tonight’s game with a left knee sprain and recalled utility man Stephen Vogt from Triple-A Durham. Jennings hasn’t started since last Sunday due to the injury, but since he made a pinch-hit appearance on Friday, he will not be eligible to return until…